The Aral Sea is shrinking, leaving a dried-up white lakebed where there used to be blue water. But in the eyes of a radar satellite, the sea’s shores look like a colorful abstract painting.

Once the world’s fourth-largest inland body of water, Central Asia’s Aral Sea has been starving ever since the two rivers that fed it were diverted for Soviet irrigation projects in the surrounding desert region 50 years ago. Since 1960, it’s lost about 90 percent of its volume.

As the Aral Sea has gotten smaller, fisheries and local businesses have suffered. The desiccated lakebed is quite salty and laden with pollution from agricultural fertilizer and pesticides, which make dust storms an even worse public health problem.

This new image of the Aral Sea, which lies on the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was created with radar data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sentinel-1A.

The image actually combines three separate radar scans: the red parts show data from Oct. 17 2014, the green from Dec. 28 2014 and blue from Feb. 14 2015. The blended colors between represent changes between these acquisitions.

The large dark area on the left side shows where water is still present. There’s also a boomerang-shaped blob in the lower-right corner of the image, which ESA officials said shows where water flows into the parched seabed from a river.

There are some traces of human life visible in the image, too, including a road on the outside of the seabed in the lower-left corner, near dots representing some unidentified human-made structures.

The Sentinel-1A satellite, which is coming up on its one-year anniversary in space, launched on April 3, 2014, to provide all-weather, day-or-night radar images of Earth.

]]>http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/aral-sea-looks-like-a-painting-from-space/feed/0Aral Sea Looks Like a Painting from Spacehttp://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/aral-sea-looks-like-a-painting-from-space/
http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/aral-sea-looks-like-a-painting-from-space/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 14:32:51 +0000http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/aral-sea-looks-like-a-painting-from-space/The Aral Sea is shrinking, leaving a dried-up white lakebed where there used to be blue water. But in the eyes of a radar satellite, the sea’s shores look like a colorful abstract painting. Once the world’s fourth-largest inland body … Continue reading →

The Aral Sea is shrinking, leaving a dried-up white lakebed where there used to be blue water. But in the eyes of a radar satellite, the sea’s shores look like a colorful abstract painting.

Once the world’s fourth-largest inland body of water, Central Asia’s Aral Sea has been starving ever since the two rivers that fed it were diverted for Soviet irrigation projects in the surrounding desert region 50 years ago. Since 1960, it’s lost about 90 percent of its volume.

As the Aral Sea has gotten smaller, fisheries and local businesses have suffered. The desiccated lakebed is quite salty and laden with pollution from agricultural fertilizer and pesticides, which make dust storms an even worse public health problem.

This new image of the Aral Sea, which lies on the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was created with radar data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sentinel-1A.

The image actually combines three separate radar scans: the red parts show data from Oct. 17 2014, the green from Dec. 28 2014 and blue from Feb. 14 2015. The blended colors between represent changes between these acquisitions.

The large dark area on the left side shows where water is still present. There’s also a boomerang-shaped blob in the lower-right corner of the image, which ESA officials said shows where water flows into the parched seabed from a river.

There are some traces of human life visible in the image, too, including a road on the outside of the seabed in the lower-left corner, near dots representing some unidentified human-made structures.

The Sentinel-1A satellite, which is coming up on its one-year anniversary in space, launched on April 3, 2014, to provide all-weather, day-or-night radar images of Earth.

]]>http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/aral-sea-looks-like-a-painting-from-space/feed/0‘Super’ Termite Hybrid May Wreak Havoc on Floridahttp://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/super-termite-hybrid-may-wreak-havoc-on-florida/
http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/super-termite-hybrid-may-wreak-havoc-on-florida/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 14:32:34 +0000http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/super-termite-hybrid-may-wreak-havoc-on-florida/The two most invasive termite species in the world are shacking up, producing a potentially powerful new termite hybrid in South Florida, a new study finds. The “super” pest can reproduce more quickly than either parent species and might have … Continue reading →

The two most invasive termite species in the world are shacking up, producing a potentially powerful new termite hybrid in South Florida, a new study finds. The “super” pest can reproduce more quickly than either parent species and might have a larger range, opening it to new habitats, the researchers said.

Together, the Asian (Coptotermes gestroi) and Formosan (Coptotermes formosanus) subterranean termite species cause an estimated $40 billion worth of damage worldwide, the researchers said. The Asian termite is from tropical Southeast Asia, while the Formosan hails from the more temperate China and Taiwan. Both types of termite have evolved separately for hundreds of thousands of years, but now human movement and trade have brought the invasive species together in Taiwan, Hawaii and South Florida.

Researchers in South Florida have observed the two mating, raising concerns the hybrid offspring might have a temperature tolerance that stretches from North Carolina to Brazil, said the study’s lead researcher, Thomas Chouvenc, an assistant research scientist of entomology at the University of Florida. [Real or Fake? 8 Bizarre Hybrid Animals (Photos)]

“That is the worst-case scenario,” said Chouvenc, who has observed the hybrids growing in the lab.

In South Florida, the Asian termite typically mates in February, and the Formosan usually mates in April. But in March 2013, Chouvenc said he was “extremely surprised” when he found the two species mating at the same time.

It’s possible that the warming climate has changed the termites’ mating seasons, but more evidence is needed to find the root cause, he said.

“When I give them a choice between the two females, [the male Asian termite] actually prefers the female of the other species,” Chouvenc told Live Science. “He completely ignores his own species.”

The two species may be using the same mating pheromone, Chouvenc said, though he added that this hypothesis has yet to be tested. Perhaps, he speculated, the female Formosan produces slightly more of the pheromone than the female Asian termite, which would make the Formosan more desirable to males.

Also worrisome is the size of the hybrid brood, which was almost twice the size of either parent group, Chouvenc said. When the researchers observed a Formosan colony and an Asian colony that were kept separate in the lab, each colony had about 80 offspring after a year, Chouvenc said.

But when the Formosan mated with the Asian termites, their colony produced about 150 termites in a year. The researchers are currently replicating the experiment to see if they get the same results, Chouvenc said.

The researchers have a lot of work ahead of them. They hope to find out whether the hybrids will be able to reproduce, or if they are sterile like mules, Chouvenc said. Scientists are also curious about whether the hybrids have a colony in the wild, and how long the two species have been mating together.

“We don’t know if it’s a very recent event or if it’s been happening for years,” Chouvenc said.

Coptotermes termite colonies typically take about eight years to produce alates, which are winged males and females that swarm, mate, and then lose their wings before forming new colonies. If the hybrids cannot produce alates, they might “just be a very active termite colony that can eat houses, but not keep going for the next generation,” Chouvenc said.

The new study details a “fascinating situation” and “a sobering picture,” said Ed Vargo, a professor of entomology at Texas AM University, who was not involved in the study.

“You have the two most destructive subterranean termite species in the world, and here they are, brought together through human activity, being introduced together in a place where they’re not native, and they’re hybridizing,” Vargo said.

The findings were published online on March 25 in the journal PLOS ONE.

]]>http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/super-termite-hybrid-may-wreak-havoc-on-florida/feed/0‘Super’ Termite Hybrid May Wreak Havoc on Floridahttp://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/super-termite-hybrid-may-wreak-havoc-on-florida/
http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/super-termite-hybrid-may-wreak-havoc-on-florida/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 14:32:34 +0000http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/super-termite-hybrid-may-wreak-havoc-on-florida/The two most invasive termite species in the world are shacking up, producing a potentially powerful new termite hybrid in South Florida, a new study finds. The “super” pest can reproduce more quickly than either parent species and might have … Continue reading →

The two most invasive termite species in the world are shacking up, producing a potentially powerful new termite hybrid in South Florida, a new study finds. The “super” pest can reproduce more quickly than either parent species and might have a larger range, opening it to new habitats, the researchers said.

Together, the Asian (Coptotermes gestroi) and Formosan (Coptotermes formosanus) subterranean termite species cause an estimated $40 billion worth of damage worldwide, the researchers said. The Asian termite is from tropical Southeast Asia, while the Formosan hails from the more temperate China and Taiwan. Both types of termite have evolved separately for hundreds of thousands of years, but now human movement and trade have brought the invasive species together in Taiwan, Hawaii and South Florida.

Researchers in South Florida have observed the two mating, raising concerns the hybrid offspring might have a temperature tolerance that stretches from North Carolina to Brazil, said the study’s lead researcher, Thomas Chouvenc, an assistant research scientist of entomology at the University of Florida. [Real or Fake? 8 Bizarre Hybrid Animals (Photos)]

“That is the worst-case scenario,” said Chouvenc, who has observed the hybrids growing in the lab.

In South Florida, the Asian termite typically mates in February, and the Formosan usually mates in April. But in March 2013, Chouvenc said he was “extremely surprised” when he found the two species mating at the same time.

It’s possible that the warming climate has changed the termites’ mating seasons, but more evidence is needed to find the root cause, he said.

“When I give them a choice between the two females, [the male Asian termite] actually prefers the female of the other species,” Chouvenc told Live Science. “He completely ignores his own species.”

The two species may be using the same mating pheromone, Chouvenc said, though he added that this hypothesis has yet to be tested. Perhaps, he speculated, the female Formosan produces slightly more of the pheromone than the female Asian termite, which would make the Formosan more desirable to males.

Also worrisome is the size of the hybrid brood, which was almost twice the size of either parent group, Chouvenc said. When the researchers observed a Formosan colony and an Asian colony that were kept separate in the lab, each colony had about 80 offspring after a year, Chouvenc said.

But when the Formosan mated with the Asian termites, their colony produced about 150 termites in a year. The researchers are currently replicating the experiment to see if they get the same results, Chouvenc said.

The researchers have a lot of work ahead of them. They hope to find out whether the hybrids will be able to reproduce, or if they are sterile like mules, Chouvenc said. Scientists are also curious about whether the hybrids have a colony in the wild, and how long the two species have been mating together.

“We don’t know if it’s a very recent event or if it’s been happening for years,” Chouvenc said.

Coptotermes termite colonies typically take about eight years to produce alates, which are winged males and females that swarm, mate, and then lose their wings before forming new colonies. If the hybrids cannot produce alates, they might “just be a very active termite colony that can eat houses, but not keep going for the next generation,” Chouvenc said.

The new study details a “fascinating situation” and “a sobering picture,” said Ed Vargo, a professor of entomology at Texas AM University, who was not involved in the study.

“You have the two most destructive subterranean termite species in the world, and here they are, brought together through human activity, being introduced together in a place where they’re not native, and they’re hybridizing,” Vargo said.

The findings were published online on March 25 in the journal PLOS ONE.

]]>http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/super-termite-hybrid-may-wreak-havoc-on-florida/feed/0Dutch architects show off 3D house-building prowesshttp://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/dutch-architects-show-off-3d-house-building-prowess/
http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/dutch-architects-show-off-3d-house-building-prowess/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 14:32:17 +0000http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/dutch-architects-show-off-3d-house-building-prowess/Dutch architects are using a giant 3D printer to construct a prototype house in a bid to pave the way to a sustainable, environmentally-friendly, future for construction. DUS Architects of Amsterdam began construction of the house in 2014 and the … Continue reading →

Dutch architects are using a giant 3D printer to construct a prototype house in a bid to pave the way to a sustainable, environmentally-friendly, future for construction.

DUS Architects of Amsterdam began construction of the house in 2014 and the prototype walls can already be seen – and touched – on site by curious visitors.

The house structure uses a plastic heavily based on plant oil that co-founder Hans Vermeulen, who initiated the project, says is waste-free and eco-friendly. Vermeulen says the building industry is one of the most polluting and inefficient around, whereas with 3D-printing, there is no waste, reduced transportation costs, and everything can be melted down and recycled. The idea is that homes could also be easily taken apart and put back together at another location if its occupants want to move area.

Vermeulen says the 3D printed house won’t necessarily be the most beautiful home, but will act as a pioneer for future environmental construction. “It doesn’t mean that everything needs to be round or curved or crazy form but it is possible and in that way we are now discovering a new technique of the wall integrating all kinds of necessities, let’s say, like water systems, installations, strength, and doing that in a very smart way we can reduce the material we need and in that sense make the house more smart,” he said.

The current material is a bio-plastic mix, containing 75 percent plant oil and reinforced with microfibres. Speaking at the small canal-side plot in north Amsterdam, Vermeulen compared his prototype to the CD player which had a major role in digitizing music.

He said: “The interesting thing about digital fabrication, of which 3D printer is one technique, is that it actually is the…we often say: it’s a CD player of the building industry – so how did CD-player digitalized the music industry, and that’s why we now have iPods and now Spotify where we share online and everything is streaming, the building industry is a little bit more conservative at the moment but digitalization can totally transform that industry into a more agile industry as well where you can actually share online and upgrade your neighborhood online, and share world-wide good ideas and then send it to the machine, the fabrication technique which can make a connection between the social networks on one hand and physical making industry on the other hand.”

Vermeulen says the technology will eventually allow householders to make custom-built 3D homes. “Digital fabrication allows us and allows customers to tweak designs into their own personal needs,” he said.

Last April Chinese firm WinSun displayed at the Suzhou Industrial Park a five-storey apartment building and a 1100 square meter villa it said it had 3D printed using recycled materials. But the technology remains in its infancy.

]]>http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/dutch-architects-show-off-3d-house-building-prowess/feed/0Dutch architects show off 3D house-building prowesshttp://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/dutch-architects-show-off-3d-house-building-prowess/
http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/dutch-architects-show-off-3d-house-building-prowess/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 14:32:16 +0000http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/dutch-architects-show-off-3d-house-building-prowess/Dutch architects are using a giant 3D printer to construct a prototype house in a bid to pave the way to a sustainable, environmentally-friendly, future for construction. DUS Architects of Amsterdam began construction of the house in 2014 and the … Continue reading →

Dutch architects are using a giant 3D printer to construct a prototype house in a bid to pave the way to a sustainable, environmentally-friendly, future for construction.

DUS Architects of Amsterdam began construction of the house in 2014 and the prototype walls can already be seen – and touched – on site by curious visitors.

The house structure uses a plastic heavily based on plant oil that co-founder Hans Vermeulen, who initiated the project, says is waste-free and eco-friendly. Vermeulen says the building industry is one of the most polluting and inefficient around, whereas with 3D-printing, there is no waste, reduced transportation costs, and everything can be melted down and recycled. The idea is that homes could also be easily taken apart and put back together at another location if its occupants want to move area.

Vermeulen says the 3D printed house won’t necessarily be the most beautiful home, but will act as a pioneer for future environmental construction. “It doesn’t mean that everything needs to be round or curved or crazy form but it is possible and in that way we are now discovering a new technique of the wall integrating all kinds of necessities, let’s say, like water systems, installations, strength, and doing that in a very smart way we can reduce the material we need and in that sense make the house more smart,” he said.

The current material is a bio-plastic mix, containing 75 percent plant oil and reinforced with microfibres. Speaking at the small canal-side plot in north Amsterdam, Vermeulen compared his prototype to the CD player which had a major role in digitizing music.

He said: “The interesting thing about digital fabrication, of which 3D printer is one technique, is that it actually is the…we often say: it’s a CD player of the building industry – so how did CD-player digitalized the music industry, and that’s why we now have iPods and now Spotify where we share online and everything is streaming, the building industry is a little bit more conservative at the moment but digitalization can totally transform that industry into a more agile industry as well where you can actually share online and upgrade your neighborhood online, and share world-wide good ideas and then send it to the machine, the fabrication technique which can make a connection between the social networks on one hand and physical making industry on the other hand.”

Vermeulen says the technology will eventually allow householders to make custom-built 3D homes. “Digital fabrication allows us and allows customers to tweak designs into their own personal needs,” he said.

Last April Chinese firm WinSun displayed at the Suzhou Industrial Park a five-storey apartment building and a 1100 square meter villa it said it had 3D printed using recycled materials. But the technology remains in its infancy.

]]>http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/dutch-architects-show-off-3d-house-building-prowess/feed/0Solitair device aims to takes guesswork out of sun safetyhttp://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/solitair-device-aims-to-takes-guesswork-out-of-sun-safety/
http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/solitair-device-aims-to-takes-guesswork-out-of-sun-safety/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 14:31:57 +0000http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/solitair-device-aims-to-takes-guesswork-out-of-sun-safety/By Matthew Stock Scientists in the UK have developed a new wearable device that monitors the correct amount of sun exposure for a person’s skin type in order to stay healthy. The Solitair device consists of a tiny sensor to … Continue reading →

Scientists in the UK have developed a new wearable device that monitors the correct amount of sun exposure for a person’s skin type in order to stay healthy. The Solitair device consists of a tiny sensor to measure how much sunlight the user is exposed to, with the information synchronized to a smartphone app that offers real time recommendations on when it is time to seek out some shade. The developers hope Solitair will reduce the confusion that surrounds just how much sun we should be getting.

UVA and UVB radiation from the sun damage skin-cell DNA and are partly responsible for skin ageing and for promoting skin cancer.

But sunlight is also vital for a host of crucial body functions. Vitamin D, sometimes known as the “sunshine vitamin”, is made in the body when the skin is exposed to sunlight and is known to boost the uptake of calcium and bone formation, with some observational studies also suggesting a link between low levels of vitamin D and greater risks of many acute and chronic diseases. Exposure to sunlight could also combat ‘seasonal affective disorder’, where some people see a drop in mood as the days get shorter and darker during the winter months.

The makers of Solitair hope it will help people make the most of available sunlight all year round; striking the correct balance between the benefits and detrimental effects of the sun.

“People are becoming increasingly concerned with the amount of sun exposure that they get. On the one hand, there’s detrimental effects like skin cancer and also the increasing awareness of skin ageing that comes from exposure to the sun. But on the plus side, people benefit from increased vitamin D synthesis in the skin which is great for their health, but also combating things like seasonal effective disorder. So it’s really getting that balance right between the down sides of sun exposure and of course the good side,” explained Peter Luebcke, from technology developers Cambridge Consultants.

There are other sun exposure devices already commercially available, but Solitair’s designers say their device offers a truly personal approach to sun safety.

“We’re very good in terms of color measurement, optics and image analysis. So we’ve brought our expertise in those areas together to really look at skin in a novel way that can directly feed that information into the app so it can calculate your predicted safe levels,” said Luebcke.

The user starts by taking a skin pigment measurement using the smartphone app. This analyses the image and combines it with the user’s schedule for the day, their location and the weather forecast. The Solitair device – currently built into a tie clip or hair slide – connects via Bluetooth with the app to calculate the optimum time in the sun to absorb the health-giving rays without risk of skin damage. It is also sophisticated enough to adapt its recommendations if the user plans to wear a sunscreen; the user simply updates a setting in the app with the SPF rating they are using.

“So the system is intelligent in the sense that it will take into account the sun screen that you’re going to wear that day; because this isn’t a system that’s a substitute for sun screen – it actually brings that in to the equation so you know what’s safe for you, your skins type, that SPF, that location and your planned movements for the day,” said Luebcke.

Throughout the day, Solitair monitors actual sun exposure with real-time updates sent to the user’s smartphone, and alerts them when they’re about to exceed the recommended safe levels of sun.

The miniature sensors in Solitair are currently the size of a small coin, with the electronic materials inside costing about $5 USD. Luebcke said there are plans to make the device smaller and even less obtrusive for the wearer, with software updates that would take into account if the device falls into shade for a short time.

“We’ve managed to get the technology down to quite a small size; about the size of a penny. But the plans are to get it down much smaller than that, probably down to the size of a shirt button. This then needs to be worn somewhere on the body that’s obviously exposed to the sun. And we will be incorporating a smoothing algorithm that would take into account if for a short period of time it goes into the shade.”

Cambridge Consultants are currently seeking partners to launch Solitair commercially.

]]>http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/solitair-device-aims-to-takes-guesswork-out-of-sun-safety/feed/0Solitair device aims to takes guesswork out of sun safetyhttp://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/solitair-device-aims-to-takes-guesswork-out-of-sun-safety/
http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/solitair-device-aims-to-takes-guesswork-out-of-sun-safety/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 14:31:57 +0000http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/solitair-device-aims-to-takes-guesswork-out-of-sun-safety/By Matthew Stock Scientists in the UK have developed a new wearable device that monitors the correct amount of sun exposure for a person’s skin type in order to stay healthy. The Solitair device consists of a tiny sensor to … Continue reading →

Scientists in the UK have developed a new wearable device that monitors the correct amount of sun exposure for a person’s skin type in order to stay healthy. The Solitair device consists of a tiny sensor to measure how much sunlight the user is exposed to, with the information synchronized to a smartphone app that offers real time recommendations on when it is time to seek out some shade. The developers hope Solitair will reduce the confusion that surrounds just how much sun we should be getting.

UVA and UVB radiation from the sun damage skin-cell DNA and are partly responsible for skin ageing and for promoting skin cancer.

But sunlight is also vital for a host of crucial body functions. Vitamin D, sometimes known as the “sunshine vitamin”, is made in the body when the skin is exposed to sunlight and is known to boost the uptake of calcium and bone formation, with some observational studies also suggesting a link between low levels of vitamin D and greater risks of many acute and chronic diseases. Exposure to sunlight could also combat ‘seasonal affective disorder’, where some people see a drop in mood as the days get shorter and darker during the winter months.

The makers of Solitair hope it will help people make the most of available sunlight all year round; striking the correct balance between the benefits and detrimental effects of the sun.

“People are becoming increasingly concerned with the amount of sun exposure that they get. On the one hand, there’s detrimental effects like skin cancer and also the increasing awareness of skin ageing that comes from exposure to the sun. But on the plus side, people benefit from increased vitamin D synthesis in the skin which is great for their health, but also combating things like seasonal effective disorder. So it’s really getting that balance right between the down sides of sun exposure and of course the good side,” explained Peter Luebcke, from technology developers Cambridge Consultants.

There are other sun exposure devices already commercially available, but Solitair’s designers say their device offers a truly personal approach to sun safety.

“We’re very good in terms of color measurement, optics and image analysis. So we’ve brought our expertise in those areas together to really look at skin in a novel way that can directly feed that information into the app so it can calculate your predicted safe levels,” said Luebcke.

The user starts by taking a skin pigment measurement using the smartphone app. This analyses the image and combines it with the user’s schedule for the day, their location and the weather forecast. The Solitair device – currently built into a tie clip or hair slide – connects via Bluetooth with the app to calculate the optimum time in the sun to absorb the health-giving rays without risk of skin damage. It is also sophisticated enough to adapt its recommendations if the user plans to wear a sunscreen; the user simply updates a setting in the app with the SPF rating they are using.

“So the system is intelligent in the sense that it will take into account the sun screen that you’re going to wear that day; because this isn’t a system that’s a substitute for sun screen – it actually brings that in to the equation so you know what’s safe for you, your skins type, that SPF, that location and your planned movements for the day,” said Luebcke.

Throughout the day, Solitair monitors actual sun exposure with real-time updates sent to the user’s smartphone, and alerts them when they’re about to exceed the recommended safe levels of sun.

The miniature sensors in Solitair are currently the size of a small coin, with the electronic materials inside costing about $5 USD. Luebcke said there are plans to make the device smaller and even less obtrusive for the wearer, with software updates that would take into account if the device falls into shade for a short time.

“We’ve managed to get the technology down to quite a small size; about the size of a penny. But the plans are to get it down much smaller than that, probably down to the size of a shirt button. This then needs to be worn somewhere on the body that’s obviously exposed to the sun. And we will be incorporating a smoothing algorithm that would take into account if for a short period of time it goes into the shade.”

Cambridge Consultants are currently seeking partners to launch Solitair commercially.

]]>http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/solitair-device-aims-to-takes-guesswork-out-of-sun-safety/feed/0Angelina Jolie Pitt’s Surgery: What Are the Risks of Early Menopause?http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/angelina-jolie-pitts-surgery-what-are-the-risks-of-early-menopause/
http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/angelina-jolie-pitts-surgery-what-are-the-risks-of-early-menopause/#commentsMon, 30 Mar 2015 23:59:10 +0000http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/angelina-jolie-pitts-surgery-what-are-the-risks-of-early-menopause/Angelina Jolie Pitt’s surgery to remove her ovaries has the side effect of putting her into early menopause, a condition which itself comes with some health risks, experts say. On Tuesday, Jolie Pitt revealed that she had surgery to remove … Continue reading →

Removing the ovaries reduces her risk of ovarian cancer by 85 to 90 percent, but it will also put her into menopause immediately, at age 39, around a decade before the average woman enters menopause naturally. (The average age for menopause in the United States is 51, according to the National Institute on Aging.)

There are a few reasons, in addition to preventive surgery like Jolie Pitt’s, women might enter menopause early; for example, their bodies may spontaneously stop ovulating, or they may undergo cancer chemotherapy treatment that disrupts their reproductive organs. But whatever the cause, early menopause, or menopause before age 40, is linked with an increased risk of heart disease, neurological problems, osteoporosis (brittle bones), and depression and anxiety, according to a 2009 review article.

Taking the hormone estrogen after removal of the ovaries, which Jolie Pitt is doing, can reduce some, but not all, of these risks, according to the review.

The ovaries produce estrogen, which is critical for bone health, and so low estrogen levels can lead to the development of osteoporosis. If nothing is done to prevent bone loss — either through medications or lifestyle changes — then women are virtually certain to experience bone loss after early menopause, said Dr. Elizabeth Poynor, a gynecologic oncologist and pelvic surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.

Researchers are still trying to understand why early menopause is linked with an increased risk of heart disease. But one theory is that estrogen helps prevent plaques from forming in blood vessels, Poynor said. So a loss of estrogen could increase plaque buildup in the arteries, leading to the hardening of these vessels.

The risk of heart disease doubles for women who have their ovaries removed at a young age, Poynor said.

Still, for women who face a high risk of developing ovarian cancer, a potentially lethal disease, the benefits of the surgery to remove the ovaries often outweigh the risks of early menopause, Poynor said. Jolie Pitt said her risk of ovarian cancer, which killed her mother, was 50 percent. [5 Things Women Should Know About Ovarian Cancer]

Women in menopause can also experience symptoms that affect their quality of life, such as hot flashes, mood changes, vaginal dryness and memory loss, Poynor, said. For women who’ve had their ovaries removed surgically, the transition into menopause, and the potential side effects, are more abrupt compared to the transition of women who go through menopause naturally, Poynor said.

But this doesn’t mean that women who have their ovaries removed will experience more severe symptoms of menopause. “I think that everyone’s really different,” Poynor said. It is often unpredictable how a woman’s body is going to respond when the ovaries are removed, Poynor said. Women who are considering this surgery should ask their doctors to review the possible side effects of early menopause with them beforehand, so they know what to look for after surgery, she said.

The decision to use hormone treatments (also known as hormone replacement therapy) for women in early menopause is made on a case-by-case basis, Poynor said. Doctors will take into account a woman’s age (with younger women more likely to use hormone treatments), her menopausal symptoms and her personal history, including whether she has a history of breast cancer, Poynor said. Hormone replacement therapy has been linked with an increased risk of breast cancer, and estrogen can stimulate the growth of breast cells, so a woman with a history of breast cancer would not be recommended to take hormone replacement therapy.

Women who’ve had a mastectomy to prevent breast cancer still have a small risk of developing the disease in their lifetimes, because some breast tissue remains even after the surgery, Poynor said. So women who take hormone replacement therapy should be followed closely, even if they have had a mastectomy, she said.

]]>http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/angelina-jolie-pitts-surgery-what-are-the-risks-of-early-menopause/feed/1Egyptians Brewed Beer in Tel Aviv 5,000 Years Agohttp://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/egyptians-brewed-beer-in-tel-aviv-5000-years-ago/
http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/egyptians-brewed-beer-in-tel-aviv-5000-years-ago/#commentsMon, 30 Mar 2015 23:59:06 +0000http://www.rocketnews.com/2015/03/egyptians-brewed-beer-in-tel-aviv-5000-years-ago/Tel Aviv’s reputation as a party city for expats might have started 5,000 years ago. During the Bronze Age, Egyptians were making beer in what is today downtown Tel Aviv, new archaeological evidence suggests. When archaeologists were conducting salvage excavations … Continue reading →

Tel Aviv’s reputation as a party city for expats might have started 5,000 years ago.

During the Bronze Age, Egyptians were making beer in what is today downtown Tel Aviv, new archaeological evidence suggests.

When archaeologists were conducting salvage excavations ahead of construction on new office buildings along Hamasger Street, they found 17 ancient pits that were used to store produce, according to an announcement from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

“On the basis of previously conducted excavations in the region, we knew there is an Early Bronze Age site here, but this excavation is the first evidence we have of an Egyptian occupation in the center of Tel Aviv at that time,” Diego Barkan, an archaeologist who was conducting the excavation on behalf of the IAA, said in the statement.

Barkan and his colleagues found hundreds of pottery fragments, including broken pieces of large ceramic basins traditionally used to prepare beer — a staple of the Egyptian diet.

The clay that was used to create these basins had been mixed with straw or other organic materials as strengthening agents. This method wasn’t used in the local pottery industry in Israel, but straw-tempered vessels have been found before at other Egyptian sites — notably, the Egyptian administrative building that was excavated at En Besor in southern Israel, Barkan explained.

“This is also the northernmost evidence we have of an Egyptian presence in the Early Bronze Age I,” Barkan said. “Until now, we were only aware of an Egyptian presence in the northern Negev and southern coastal plain, whereby the northernmost point of Egyptian occupation occurred in Azor. Now we know that they also appreciated what the Tel Aviv region had to offer and that they too knew how to enjoy a glass of beer, just as Tel Avivians do today.”

The archaeologists report that they also found 5,000-year-old bones from wild boar, sheep and goat at the site, as well as a bronze dagger and stone tools dating back 6,000 years, during the Chalcolithic period.